Lotos
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| Name | Lotos | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 1,327 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - H. te Veldhuis, Papendrecht | ||
| Owner | Stener S. Müller, Bergen | ||
| Homeport | Bergen | ||
| Date of attack | 16 Sep 1940 | Nationality:  Norwegian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) | ||
| Position | Grid AM 1751 - See estimated map location (57.42N15.02W) * | ||
| Complement | 17 (0 dead and 17 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SC-3 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Dalhousie - Sydney (2 Sep) - Belfast - River Tyne | ||
| Cargo | 1500 tons (500 standards) of timber | ||
| History | Built as Erholm, later renamed Svartisen, 1935 renamed Lotos In the morning of 10 Jun, 1940, the Lotos (Master Karl Hjellestad) left Rouen, without a pilot and under constant bombardment from eleven German aircraft, just as the Germans captured the city. She also experienced the heavy air attacks in Le Havre the same evening and picked up some crew members from the Norwegian steam merchant Ellavore, which had been hit and sunk and brought them to England. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 02.41 hours on 16 Sep, 1940, the Lotos (Master Karl Hjellestad) was hit by one torpedo from U-99 on the starboard side abaft of the #2 hatch and sank 15 miles northwest of Rockall. The ship had been in convoy SC-3, but could not keep up with the speed and lost the convoy shortly after they left Sydney. One lifeboat with nine men reached shore after three days, the second lifeboat containing eight survivors including the master made landfall at Castlebay, Hebrides after 5 days. | ||
* Estimated position shown here is based on positions of losses in a roughly the same German grid code. It may be a bit off but should give a good idea as to where the attack took place.
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